Artist are you being Harassed…

The piece I have above is called ” More Than A Woman”. It’s a piece that conveys a message about how women are being harassed by strangers in the streets. Which occurs on a daily basis. I’ve seen young men call young girls everything besides their name. This creates a process of lowering someone self esteem, productivity, and behavior. Which leads me to my article about harassment.

So I’ve been picked on (harassed) every since childhood due to my vivid imagination. I was always talked about because I actually thought I had super human strength, or made strange noises, and even (I love this one) fought the wind (I’d prefer practicing karate). Anyways, I was that guy. I never thought that having an imagination was a big concern. However, growing up on the west side of Chicago was a huge difference than being up north. Then again, being a black male up north wasn’t all that exciting either. But let’s stay focused on being an artistically comical fun driven young teen raised in the “hood”.

It was different…well I was different to my peers. I talked, dressed, and my behavior was different. I perceived and noticed the difference so I decided to blend in…. or at least try. While everyone was wearing Karl Kani Jeans, Pelle Pelle, and “Jordans”. I was wearing a Payless shoe brand called “HEADS”. I even went so far as to draw the Karl Kani logo on a pair of khakis. It was only until I began to draw Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Graffiti Bubble letters that pulled me into the in crowd. I was accepted more willingly every time I drew something that my peers could relate to. It was good feeling of relief… a sense of comfort (fitting in).

In these times who wants to fit in? This is the age of trendsetting, doing your own thing…more like trendscending. This is not an error in spelling either. Trendscending is to go beyond and surpass the current trends. @Fulltime_Khanyi said it best on his blog at http://justrendscend.wordpress.com/

Go Above, Go Beyond, Onto The Next Level, Make It To The Highest

Trend Setter: A leader of the pack who has a sense of Fashion, Style, Music. Someone who everyone else follows.

Transcend: To be greater than standard, unity, truth, and goodness.

Trendsetter + Transcend = TrendScend

Follow him and his blog: @Fulltime_Khanyi

Many individuals have a fear to do something different or irregular. So they criticize and judge. It’s displeasing to hear some of the critiques I hear on a daily basis. Especially within the workplace. So I did some research and there are laws that protect those from being harassed…it’s called Workplace Harassment. This is a federal law and if violated by a co-worker or manager could led to termination. Unlawful harassment is a form of discrimination that violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other federal authority.